Found a Technicolor Super8 Camera

[Juniornumber8]

I was at my grandfather's house and I found this Technicolor Super8 camera and a projector like the ones students could use in elementary school to watch the movies with no sound. I want to use it. I e-mailed Technicolor and they wrote back saying they can't help me. It takes a Mercury 1.3V battery which I don't know how i'll find it, as well as two double A's in the handle part. I found a film cartridge also made by technicolor advertised on the package as "ready for instant viewing" To find this little thing that is could be close to 40 years old, and only used once seems like such a waste. I really want to use this thing. I've gone all over online and found a Kodak site that sells cartridges, but will they work in this thing? What else do I need to do to get it going? I'm most certainly NOT a film maker, I make videos of my kids birthday and Christmas on a camcorder. I think though, without sound and the different look of it, filming my son running around like a maniac might be more charming than the way we do it nowadays. Any help would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[BolexPlusx]

Well, Step One is to find out if the camera works. Usually putting the AA cells in is enough to get the motor rolling. If you do that and it seems to work reasonably smoothly when you press the trigger, then you think about the meter. If the camera takes a 1.3V cell, it is probably a PX-13 or PX-625 (please check). They don't sell the mercury version anymore, but you can go to many drug stores and get the zinc air cell (check in hearing aid batteries). This will at least allow you to test the meter. There may be a button inside the film chamber you have to depress to get the meter to work. You want to see the meter swing up when you go from dim light to bright.

If you do this stuff and the camera seems alive, let us know and we'll take you through buying film and starting out.